Daily Dracula

[Frelga]

Didn't we already see that Dracula took all his writing stuff?

[Inanna]

Oh! When he got caught sneaking letters to the Gypsies! I’ll re-read that one.

[RoseMorninStar]

I can't figure out how Harker is being fed (or other mundane things like having clean clothing, washing, toileting, etc..) and how he is interacting with the Count during this ordeal. This, and other such practical matters, is probably why the author chose to be so sketchy in his tale at this stage.

[RoseMorninStar]

So, the count is crawling out of his window, presumably at night/after dark, to post Harker's letters in Harker's own clothing. I can't quite figure out how this is supposed to give people the impression it is Harker as I would imagine the post office would be closed and few people would be out & about to see him. If Harker can crawl down the side of the castle, why does he not escape that way?

[Túrin Turambar]

So, the count is crawling out of his window, presumably at night/after dark, to post Harker's letters in Harker's own clothing. I can't quite figure out how this is supposed to give people the impression it is Harker as I would imagine the post office would be closed and few people would be out & about to see him. If Harker can crawl down the side of the castle, why does he not escape that way?

My assumption is that Dracula was posting the letters via a postbox, although I don't know if there were postboxes in rural Romania in the 1890s (as with the language, this might be a moment at which Stoker forgot the story is not happening in Britain). Dracula apparently has superhuman dexterity and can grip cracks in the wall a person could not.

As a side note, in the commentaries to The Two Towers, Alan Lee (from memory) suggested that Tolkien's portrayal of Gollum climbing face-first down a cliff was inspired by the (admittedly very striking) image of Dracula doing the same thing. In both cases, they create an impression of a being human-like but not human. I don't know if Tolkien read Dracula, but he did read modern fiction as a teenager and young man and, given his interest in the fantastic and Gothic, I'd be surprised if he didn't at least pick the book up at some point. Although he may equally have come up with the Gollum scene himself. As a side note to the side note, Gollum is one of the elements in the Legendarium which seems to be wholly original without a model in the Sagas, folklore, or Dark Age history.

[RoseMorninStar]

Interesting thoughts on Gollum. The way they creep down walls is indeed creepy. Gollum also isn't terribly fond of the light and likes his food 'raw and wriggling' (ie: alive).

Harker was able to crawl on the outside wall too, although not head first. He crawled on the outside of the castle to get into Dracula's rooms.

It's June and doesn't get dark until quite late. I wonder if Dracula is up to something else in Harkers clothing, like victimizing the locals, although I would think he had to have been doing that already. Going into town very late/ in the middle of the night would seem to arouse more suspicion/attention.

[Inanna]

I thought Harker suspected that Dracula was wearing his clothes to pin the baby’s death on him?

[RoseMorninStar]

I thought Harker suspected that Dracula was wearing his clothes to pin the baby’s death on him?

That's the conclusion I'm coming to as wearing his clothing to post letters in the middle of the night doesn't make sense.

That said, has Dracula been luring others from far afield for a long time in similar circumstances so as to keep suspicion from himself? That doesn't seem entirely practical either. The woman who lost her baby I would presume is from the area and it seems, from recounts of Harker's journey to the castle, that there has long been fear of an evil associated with it and it's owner.

[Frelga]

This made me chuckle

Today in Dracula: Local lawyer lives out every lawyer’s fantasy of whacking their worst client with a shovel

[RoseMorninStar]

Did anyone ever watch the Gothic daytime TV series 'Dark Shadows'? I wasn't allowed to watch it.. I was fairly young & it was on early afternoon. I guess the episodes took inspiration from such classics as Jane Eyre, Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Crucible, Count of Monte Cristo, The Cask of Amontillado, and the film 'Gaslight'.

[narya]

We all rushed home and watched Dark Shadows after school (middle school) and we thought it was hilarious.

[RoseMorninStar]

Teens were the target audience for 'Dark Shadows' and I guess it was pretty melodramatic. I only knew the name 'Barnabas Collins' and had the vague idea he was a vampire. When I was a bit older I used to watch 'Creature Feature' on Friday or Saturday night. It featured all of those old Bela Lugosi/Boris Karloff type films.

[Jude]

The reference to "a steadfastness as noble as that of the young Casabianca" got me curious, so I had to look it up. It's an 1826 poem based on a true incident that took place in 1798. According to the wikipedia article, it was a staple of elementary school readers from 1850 to 1950, both in the UK and the US. Today it is mostly remembered as a tag-line, and a topic of parodies.

To save you looking it up, here is the full text:

The boy stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but he had fled;
The flame that lit the battle's wreck,
Shone round him o'er the dead.

Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the storm;
A creature of heroic blood,
A proud, though childlike form.

The flames rolled on - he would not go,
Without his father's word;
That father, faint in death below,
His voice no longer heard.

He called aloud - 'Say, father, say
If yet my task is done?'
He knew not that the chieftain lay
Unconscious of his son.

'Speak, father!' once again he cried,
'If I may yet be gone!'
- And but the booming shots replied,
And fast the flames rolled on.

Upon his brow he felt their breath
And in his waving hair;
And look’d from that lone post of death,
In still yet brave despair.

And shouted but once more aloud,
'My father! must I stay?'
While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud,
The wreathing fires made way.

They wrapped the ship in splendour wild,
They caught the flag on high,
And streamed above the gallant child,
Like banners in the sky.

There came a burst of thunder sound -
The boy - oh! where was he?
Ask of the winds that far around
With fragments strewed the sea!

With mast, and helm, and pennon fair,
That well had borne their part,
But the noblest thing which perished there,
Was that young faithful heart.

[RoseMorninStar]

Oh! That is so sad.. so beautifully sad. A lovely piece.

Was there a new 'Dracula' today? I don't have anything in my mail. Or is this from earlier (it's been awhile).


Edited to add: Hmmm... no, I've not gotten emails since some time in July

[Jude]

There was one today with the title "An extensive weather report". Did you not get it?

[Inanna]

There have been quite a few entries in the last couple of weeks!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

You can always go to the archive and check there:

https://draculadaily.substack.com/archive

[Frelga]

The Demeter subplot is among the most effectively written horror I've read. It has even more impact because the reader knows things that the characters don't, and because in this case being genre savvy wouldn't do the character any good.

And then to have it end in a weather report, with the narrator completely clueless? Brilliance.

[RoseMorninStar]

You can always go to the archive and check there:

https://draculadaily.substack.com/archive

I've caught up and signed up again to receive emails. I can't imagine why they stopped coming.

Wow. That is one mighty horror story. I can't imagine why anyone would board that ship once it was in harbor. I would be concerned there was plague aboard. Why would Dracula go through so many victims, seemingly at his own peril. What are we to make of Lucy's sleep walking which seem to coincide with the movement of Dracula. Yes, I ask a lot of questions.

As for the movie about the ship Demeter, that is a fascinating story, however, I find 'fiends' far scarier if they are in somewhat human form/more plausible than a bat/beast.

[Túrin Turambar]

The Demeter subplot is among the most effectively written horror I've read. It has even more impact because the reader knows things that the characters don't, and because in this case being genre savvy wouldn't do the character any good.

And then to have it end in a weather report, with the narrator completely clueless? Brilliance.

The Demeter subplot is a great little bit of what today we'd call 'found footage' horror. I don't know if there was an earlier example, but it's had an influence for sure.